Outright Thievery

That the United States stole much of the land that makes up this country from the Native Americans is a fact most of us have been aware of from our high school history classes. What most people don't realize is that theft continued well into the 20th Century. Many of our most popular national parks, among them Yellowstone, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Parks, required forcing residents off of their land, usually without any recompense. Badlands National Park is another such instance of federal grand larceny, according to this article in today's Los Angeles Times. Now the US government is considering returning at least part of the park to the real owners, the Oglala Sioux.

Unexploded bombs lie in ravines, a reminder of when the military confiscated the land from the Oglala Sioux tribe during World War II and turned it into an artillery range. Poachers who have stolen thousands of fossils over the years have left gouges in the landscape. On a plateau, a solitary makeshift hut sits ringed by empty Coke cans and shaving cream canisters. It is the only remnant of a three-year occupation by militant tribal activists who had demanded that the land be returned.

Now the National Park Service is contemplating doing just that: giving the 133,000-acre southern half of Badlands National Park back to the tribe. The northern half, which has a paved road and a visitor center, would remain with the park system. ...

The change would require congressional approval and the process is in its earliest stages, with officials still to decide whether the south section should be handed over solely to the tribal government, become a separate park run by the tribe with help from the park service, or left as is. [Emphasis added]

People were driven from their homes with only a few weeks' notice, which meant that many left with only what they could carry. Most had lived on that land for generations; their families were buried there. And all so that the military could practice artillery shooting. After the war, the Pentagon didn't even bother to clean up the mess they had made.

That the land should be returned to the Oglala Sioux is a given, but how that transfer is made should be tailored to what the tribe wants and needs. Expecting the tribe to run the land as the southern half of the park without any federal assistance is ludicrous: the park is located in one of the poorest counties in the nation. Let the tribe decide how the land will be used. Then transfer the land back to its true owners with some overdue recompense, call it the fine required for such criminal behavior.

It's time for a little justice.